Machine Learning (ML) is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI), where a neural network is ‘trained’ to recognise patterns, in order to identify those patterns in future. …
[M]any researchers approach ML from an engineering perspective, so they ask different questions, such as: how can I use this? … What problems can I solve with this new tool?
This is where pseudoscience can rear its ugly head.
Several examples are described in a 2024 paper, “The reanimation of pseudoscience in machine learning and its ethical repercussions”, where the authors describe the process by which pseudoscience and junk science is being “laundered” by ML. …
[Some] studies described claim to train ML models to use photos, voice recordings, or other biometric data to identify characteristics such as race, sexuality, mental illness, criminal propensity, and neuroticism. But, without first demonstrating a link between some biometric trait and some individual characteristic, what do you get? Nothing.
In fact, it’s worse than nothing; it is a ‘study’ which assumes the validity of the link, then searches for data points which can be claimed as evidence for future ‘studies’. There’s a term for that: junk science ….
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